Many Christian churches, the world, and the United Nations claim to value justice, human dignity, and the protection of the innocent. Yet, they have remained largely silent about the massacre of Christians in Nigeria. While global attention shifts quickly from one headline to the next, a tragedy of staggering proportions continues to unfold with far too little outrage. There should be more people speaking up against the ongoing atrocities in Nigeria. It is our brothers and sisters in Christ being taken out, very systematically, in a genocide occurring across the Atlantic Ocean. The government of Nigeria has taken a blind eye to these murders and has apparently not done anything to help the families or stop the ongoing atrocities. This is not a new development; this has been going on for about 16 years. From what little information is coming out of the nation and the controlled media, the violence has only intensified recently. The images coming out of the nation are horrifying. Only one enemy is attacking these fellow believers: they are Islamic Jihadists. The Islamic attackers have killed over 52,000 people since 2009 (Annetta, October 7, 2025). For perspective, that is over 3,000 people a year. This is one group eradicating an entire other group of people simply for the name of Jesus Christ. The number of murders this year has been absolutely skyrocketing as the violence becomes deeply emboldened.
Since this is not a new development in Nigeria, and this has been going on for about 16 years, there is historical information about this genocide going back to 2009. Olojo (2014), a researcher completing a dissertation on the topic, has provided a table giving names and the region where pastors were killed in violence against Christian church leaders in Nigeria for several years. (Since I did not gain official authorization to republish the entire table produced by Olojo (2014), I have only included the name of the pastor and the date of the murder in the table below.) I present this list of men because they deserve our honor. They did not deny the name of Jesus in the face of unimaginable evil.
| Name of Pastor | Date of Martyrdom |
| Reverend George Orji | July, 2009 |
| Reverend Sylvester Akpan | July, 2009 |
| Reverend Sabo Yakubu | July, 2009 |
| Reverend Bulus Marwa | December, 2010 |
| Pastor Michael Madugu | January, 2011 |
| Reverend David Usman | June, 2011 |
| Reverend Ilaisha Kabura | November, 2012 |
| Reverend Yohanna Agom | September, 2013 |
It is also important to note that during that same time period (2009-2013 in Nigeria), a larger number of Islamic leaders were killed in the nation. Still, they were killed by other Islamic groups. No known Christians have killed other Christian leaders in Nigeria or otherwise anywhere else, for that matter. I write this obvious statement only to address the fact that the killing is one-directional. It is not going both ways. The Christian leaders are lambs being slain in the streets of their communities, and no one is doing anything to stop it!
The martyred pastors listed above were all killed in the upper right-hand section of the nation. The majority of these murders occurred in the community of Maiduguri which is, according to Google Maps, about a 12 and a half hour drive from the capital city of Abuja. The other location, called Nangere, had only one murder on the list above, and it is about a three-hour drive from Maiduguri. Suffice to say, these horrible humanitarian crimes have been happening just a few hours’ drive away from a major city and the national capital.
Nigeria is a very modern nation by many accounts. The nation is on the West Coast of Africa and faces Brazil on the Atlantic Ocean. According to Britannica (n.d.), the nation was formerly a British colony and achieved its freedom in the early 1960s. Because it is a colony, the majority of residents are English speakers, and English is the national language. Some people also speak Hausa (presumed to be the country’s native language). The nation is among the most densely populated in Africa, with a population of around 233,560,000 in 2025.The Nigerian economy and its gross domestic product (GDP) are said to be improving, and therefore it is assumed that the nation is growing in wealth (Onuoha et al., 2015). According to available online information, the nation is said to have desirable resources. In fact, China has recently taken a strategic partnership with the nation and now mines rare earth minerals. They have already invested $1.3 billion in the nation to extract lithium, and much more money will flow into the country over the coming years (Business Insider, n.d.). I have also been told by someone who emigrated from Nigeria to the United States that there is a lot of gold in the nation, often found in riverbeds. So, with the nation’s growing value and economic development, why is it allowing some of the most violent behavior on earth to occur? Despite its modern appearance, the government of Nigeria has been sympathetic towards the Islamic Jihadists. It has not done much of anything to stop the massacre of the Christians in Nigeria. Leading to speculations of extreme corruption or worse, they agree with the behaviors occurring in their nation and side with the violence. This is not an isolated feeling but rather expressed by the people of the nation experiencing this holocaust. It was said on persecution.org that, “Many Nigerian Christians feel this chronic cycle of violence and impunity is all by design, and that their country has people in high places who have a vested interest in letting the cycle continue” (International Christian Concern, 2025, June 3).
The systematic targeting of Christians over the past 16 years represents not only a national crisis but a humanitarian one. The documented murders of pastors and thousands of Christian citizens of Nigeria reveal a pattern of violence that is clearly not random or isolated. It is unmistakably the targeting of specific people with a particular belief. Despite Nigeria’s growing economic strength and modern identity, the government has not confronted or even acknowledged this as an unfolding genocide. The lack of government response is deeply troubling and appears to be corruption. The loss of more than 52,000 lives highlights a crisis that is both urgent and undeniable. The intensifying violence against Christians underscores the need for international pressure and accountability. As the perpetrators grow more emboldened, silence from the government of Nigeria and the rest of the world becomes increasingly embarrassing. Many Nigerians themselves believe that influential figures are intentionally allowing and even supporting this brutality. The global Church, humanitarian organizations, and world governments alike should recognize what is occurring and do more to bring awareness and change. Dietrich Bonhoffer once said, “not to act is to act” (Silouan, 2015, December 15). Following in his footsteps, we need to act now, or our inaction will be our action. Now is the time to speak up, encourage change, and, of course, to pray.
Clearly, our siblings in Christ have been persecuted in a genocide for many years now. It is so more than just being mistreated. They have been driven from their homes, beaten, and hunted down. The bible says in 1st Corinthians 12:26 that when one of us suffers, the entire body suffers together. The verse says, “and whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it.” It is time we, as the universal church, stand up and do more to bring justice to our Nigerian brothers and sisters in Christ. They are a member of the body, and they are suffering. We should be praying daily for our Nigerian siblings in Christ. Every week, churches should mention this from the pulpit. The lack of outcry and overall response to these events in Nigeria is very concerning. The church and the body of Christ need to wake up!
References:
Annetta, S. (2025, October 7). The Silent Christian Genocide in Nigeria is Finally Being Exposed. ConcernedWomen.org. Retrieved November 20, 2025, from https://concernedwomen.org/the-silent-christian-genocide-in-nigeria-is-finally-being-exposed/#:~:text=Over%2052%2C000%20Christians%20living%20in,deaths%20worldwide%20come%20from%20Nigeria.
Britannica (n.d.). A brief overview and history of Nigeria. Https://www.Britannica.com/Summary/Nigeria. Retrieved November 20, 2025, from https://concernedwomen.org/the-silent-christian-genocide-in-nigeria-is-finally-being-exposed/#:~:text=Over%2052%2C000%20Christians%20living%20in,deaths%20worldwide%20come%20from%20Nigeria.
Business Insider. (n.d.). Nigeria attracts $1.3bn Chinese lithium investment amid push for clean energy value chains. Business Insider. https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/markets/nigeria-attracts-dollar13bn-chinese-lithium-investment-amid-push-for-clean-energy/b4nj9yf
International Christian Concern (2025, June 3). All By Design: How Nigeria’s Islamic Extremists Get Away with Killing So Many Christians. Persecution.org. Retrieved November 28, 2025, from https://persecution.org/2025/06/03/all-by-design-how-nigerias-islamic-extremists-get-away-with-killing-so-many-christians/
Olojo, A. E. (2014). Muslims, Christians and religious violence in Nigeria: Patterns and mapping (June 2006-May 2014) (Doctoral dissertation, IFRA-Nigeria).
Onuoha, D. O., Ibe, A., Njoku, C. U., & Onuoha, J. I. (2015). Analysis of The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nigeria: 1960-2012. West African Journal of Industrial and Academic Research, 14(1), 81-90.
Silouan (2015, December 15). “Not to act is to act” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Silouan.com. Retrieved November 28, 2025, from https://www.silouan.com/not-to-act-dietrich-bonhoeffer/#:~:text=Stop%20a%20minute%20and%20ponder,in%20the%20darkness%20of%20silence.
Wise, T. (2025, November 20). ‘There Is Genocide Taking Place’: Jihadists Attack Church in Nigeria, Kill 3, Abduct Pastor and More. CBN.com. Retrieved November 28, 2025, from https://cbn.com/news/world/there-genocide-taking-place-jihadists-attack-church-nigeria-kill-3-abduct-pastor-and